Computer systems can become subject to attacks, where an unauthorized party attempts to gain access to data stored by a computer system. An attacker may seek to obtain data to be exfiltrated and used to the attacker's benefit. Attacks may target financial data, such as credit card numbers, or the attacks may be part of an industrial espionage operation, where trade secrets, design documents or specifications may be retrieved. Attacks on computer systems present challenges to operators of computer systems whereby, despite advances in data security, the attacks still occur with alarming frequency. Furthermore, these attacks, even when unsuccessful, have adverse economic impacts on individuals and organizations alike. The attacks can force organizations to suspend their operations for periods of time. In addition, attacks directed towards identity theft or the financial information of an organization's customer may be very costly to the organizations.
It is challenging to have a method for protecting data stored in a data storage system. Furthermore, it is also challenging to protect that data while ensuring uninterrupted access to the data by parties having an authorization to access the data.